Bub: Character Studies

Here are a few character studies I did of our good friend Bub form George Romero's Day of the Dead. The project this was intended for fell through, but I felt I should share them anyways because I love Bub so much and "Day" is by far my most favorite zombie flick.

Delinquent Debutantes

I recently had the distinct pleasure of designing and illustrating the poster for an upcoming show by The Delinquent Debutants, a burlesque dance school here in Nashville. The show will be on June 3rd and it's a celebration of their one year birthday as well as the graduating summer student body class. You should REALLY come, I'm not just saying this because my super sexy girlfriend, Miss Bettie B. Cupp will be performing either. You can get you tickets HERE Get them now before it's sold out!!!

See you there!

Cheers,

Baker

Road to MidSouthCon 29

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, it's been pretty busy round these here neck-o-the-woods. But I just wanted to let everyone know, this weekend we (the Apparition Abolishers) will be returning guests at MidSouthCon in Memphis. So if you are in the area please come by and say hello! We will be revealing a new treat for everyone there as well.. One that I am very excited about and can't wait to see what others think!

Also, I will have seven pieces up for grabs in the Art show / auction. Not to mention a slew of prints available in the print shop.

This is just one of the sexy beasts you can get your hands on this weekend... See you there!

Happy lovers day

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

New Amsterdam Times

This fun little extra tidbit of the Apparition Abolishers universe was written by none other than our very own Christopher Harvey (aka Sir Quincy Peck.) Be sure to click the image to enjoy it's full capacity. It's a nice big size perfect for a screen saver or wallpaper. Also, for all you "hardcore geeks" out there, there are some fun pop culture references hidden in the piece as well, enjoy!

-b

The A.T.T. - Part 3 - The Finished Art

I realize this post is a few days past due. I apologize for that.

So without further ado* here is a few shots of the finished art that the Automated Torque Telegrapher Maquette came in very handy for.

This last one of the newspaper was really fun because I knew the details were not too important and that allowed me to be quite loose with illustration. My good friend and fellow Abolisher, Christopher Harvey (aka Sir Quincy Peck) did the layout for this fine looking turn-of-the-century bathroom reading material. Tomorrow, I'll post a nice screen saver size version of the paper large enough to be able to read the fun articles, along with the original ink illustration.

-b

* WARNING- overly used cliché phrase in use.

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You can view the A.T.T. in action in the Apparition Abolishers webcomic

See the sketches of the A.T.T. - HERE

And the Maquette - HERE

The A.T.T. - Part 2 - The Maquette

At Goodwill you can get a "grab bag special," which is essentially a clear plastic bag for two bucks and as many broken toy parts you can cram into said bag. What you see on the left is the chaotic mess from one of these fun and hand-sanitizer-required-afterward expeditions.

James Gurney has been preaching about maquettes and their usefulness on his blog for ages. Although I had known about them in school, I'd never actually tried building one. With each new concept, I worked, re-worked... and kept re-working an illustration trying to capture something that I just could not translate without seeing it in the environment I was trying to illustrate. Using the maquette saved me a lot of valuable time because I could easily visualize what each shadow, or ray of light would look like because the photo reference for it was right there. Each illustration required less tweaking and I was able to complete them much quicker than with no reference.

When it came time to create the maquette of the A.T.T., I used the opportunity as another "sketching method." I still was not absolutely set on a design, and since I was creating it from scratch I had free range on experimenting. Using the interesting shapes of old toy parts, foam board, and other random materials, I was able to create my own Frankenstein of an Automated Torque Telegrapher. Once it was completely assembled, I painted it flat grey to make it appear more seamless, easier to capture shadows, and reflect light in photographs.

The fun thing about building maquettes is that you can be as precise or uncomplicated as you like. The ultimate goal is to get the information you need out of it, whether it be a certain pose, the perfect angle, or most importantly, how lighting and cast shadows fall on your subject. I've gotten quite a few miles out of just this one maquette. I've used it for several panels in the web comic as well as faux newspaper articles, and eventually I might make a "blueprint style" poster of the Automated Torque Telegrapher. Until then... it rests happily in my studio with all the other clutter of maquettes, books, and scribbles just waiting for the day I need to draw the A.T.T. once more.

In the next post, I'll share a few of the finished illustrations/designs that I have referenced this maquette for.

Until Then,

-b

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You can view the A.T.T. in action in the

Apparition Abolishers webcomic

See the sketches of the A.T.T. - HERE

For some of the very best tips and tricks of illustration art,
visit James Gurney's blog - GurneyJourney,